"they can keep this Arctic air"... and they would LOVE to!

Many people seem to figure that since we have recently been having harsher winters in North America that there must not be any global warming problem. However, maybe the reason we are having harsher winters is because the Sun heats up the the North Pole first, since it is the closest to the Sun, melting the polar caps, and unfortunetly, sending a rush of artic air down our way, causing more- fridgid- than- normal winters and warmer than BEARable conditions up North.

 I have heard the argument that the Earth has been getting warmer since the Ice Age; this is also true, Yet, it was happening at a slower, natural rate. Humans are causing an unnatural rapid rate of warming to which the Earth is not able to adjust. There is the trouble that needs attention. Now is way past the time to change our ways, but it is not too late!

Make a symbolic Polar Bear adoption to help save some of the world's most endangered animals from extinction and support WWF's conservation efforts. ...
www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/polarbear/polarbear.html

WWF - Polar Bear Conservation - WWF: A Leader in Polar Bear ...

All Creatures Great and Small

http://www.helpwspa.org/
http://www.wspa-international.org/
http://www.wspa-usa.org/
Many times I believe that I love animals more than people. It's just so easy to love those little, helpless faces and the cheeky things they do! And many times I wish I was a goddess, or a wrathful angel who could look after them all and rain down my revenge upon all humans who abuse these beautiful creatures. All Life is connected and alike. I hate the saying, "stupid animal" as when a deer runs out before the car, or a bird hits a window. They inhabited the Earth first and we are the invaders of their homes. We are the same as them, we are the same as plants; all living and surviving off of the earth. We all are born, live and die and go into the earth. So why do so many treat animals and the enviroment so cruely? Why is it taking so long to coexist with the earth and its creatures?

Deck the Halls??

Hebrew texts condemn the "heathens" for cutting down trees, brining them indoors and "deck[ing] it with silver and gold." (Jerimiah 10:2-4 King James)
In its early days, the Christian Church forbade any decorating with evergreen boughs or trees because of its "heathen" roots (no pun inteded!) "Learn not the way of the heathen... for one cutteth a tree out of the forest .." Cutting down and decorating trees is not a Pagan ritual either. To CUT anything from Nature is far too destructive! They did however, decorate LIVING trees with bits of metal and small replicas of their god Bacchus. And, during Saturnalia, a Roman celebration feast, Pagans would decorate their homes with clippings of evergreens. It was not until the 19th Century that evergreens became a holiday decorating staple.

Standing Still Sun

In the wee hours of the shortest day of the year, greeting dark cloaked Winter- Winter, leaving all withered and bare in its path, a pearl among jewels, the Winter moon, will be veiled by the Earth's shadow.  Tomorrow night, December 21, 2010, we will be the furthest from the sun; it will be the beginning of the darkest eves of the year. I am so inspired by these two occurrences! I plan to stay up to watch this spiritual experience.
Solstice means "standing still sun." Ancient cultures all over the world from the Mayans to modern pagans have observed the skies for guidance and knowledge. Our Neolithic ancestors carved notches in bone that appear to be tracking the cycles of the moon.

Stone Henge, a most famous observatory for viewing celestial activity, aligns with both solstices and equinoxes.

Ireland is home to a lesser known observatory, older than Stone Henge and even the pyramids- Newgrange. This site is 5,000 years old!(3200 BC)
A beam of sunlight peers down into its deep chamber at the dawn of the Winter Solstice. Celtic-like carvings can be found on its walls, even though the Celts would not reach Ireland for another 2500 years. Among these carvings can also be found eye shapes and solar discs.
  
In Zimbabwe, there is a circle of crumbling of stones, known as the African Stone Henge. The position of the tall tower causes researchers to believe that this ring was used like other ancient observatories to study the moon, sun and planets. Some of the monoliths line up with the bright stars of Orion on the morn of the Winter Solstice. There is a tower among the monoliths, which one researcher, Richard Wade, thinks may have been built to observe an exploding star in the year 1300 AD.
When modern telescopes observe the area now, there seems to be evidence of a supernova that occurred at the time Wade suggests. Even though there is no written record of it, for lack of literacy of the region hundreds of years ago, Zimbabwean legends tell that their ancestors migrated from the north to the south by following the bright star in the southern skies. 

Moonlight Sonata

Missile Toe

Frigga, the Norse goddess of Love, Beauty and Marriage, who also weaved the clouds and made rain and thunderstorms, had a son named Baldur, a most beloved god. He was one day killed by an arrow through his heart made from this poisionous parasite. His mother wept tears that became the white flowers of mistletoe. Frigga brought her son back to life and reversed the ominous reputation of mistletoe. Not wanting others to suffer, she ordered that instead of death, the plant bring love and peace. And throughout time, if enemies happened to meet under a tree whereupon a mistletoe hung, they would have to lay down their arms and declare a truce until the following day.

-In winter, while all the leaves of the sacred Oak had fallen away, the mistletoe remained green; it was thought to contain the life of the tree.

-Mistletoe is considered parasitic because it sends a very different root system, called haustoria, down to the roots of its host and exracts nutrients

-Mistletow actually means 'dung on a twig' (Anglo-Saxon: mistle= dung, tan= twig) for it was usually seen growing where birds had left droppings! Later, botanists discovered that mistletoe grew from seeds passed from birds' digestive tract.

-Druids considered mistletoe sacred for its medicinal qualities and was used during fertility rites

-In modern times, mistletoe is being studied as to if it could be used to cure cancer

-BE SURE TO KEEP MISTLETOE AWAY FROM YOUR PETS; IT MAY BE POISONOUS TO THEM-

The Nut Cracker

Mental disorders fascinate me; I want to study the brain and know why! Alas, mental disorders will always haunt me. As a child, I was always tormented by panic-provoking thoughts and fears of abandonment. None of my fears and anxiety, even if they were normal for a child, were ever validated; I was always told I was overeacting or too sensitive. A child never overreacts- they just react.
The same brain chemistry and activity that propells me to write creatively taunts my mind with a sort of brain tourettes- horrilble images and ideas flash without warning in my head and can make me sick and faint. In 2005-06, I became reclusive, fearing I may pass out in public for no physical reason at all, which frieghtend me more. When I forced myself to go to work, as a cashier at a local grocery store, and college, my entire day was spent obessively trying to stay busy to force my mind to think of normal things. I was constantly talking to myself mentally to calm myself down. It was exhausting! My palms were always clamy and I had I had a persistant feeling of needing to run away from whereever I was. If you have ever seen an animal dying, or near death, trying to run and hide somewhere away from the danger- that is the best way I can describe how I felt. The danger is within and inescapable. At the end of the day I settled into bed, only to fall victim of the thoughts waiting on my pillow to become nightmares. I spent many nights sitting up, reading until my eyes physically could not stay open.
I finally went to the doctors after reading about panic disorders and the brain. My tormenting thoughts always obsessed over blood, injuries and gruesome torture. And, ofcourse, before any diagnosis, they had to do bloodwork! It was not an over-active thyroid or any other physical condition causing my weary feelings and dread. My mohter went with me to the lab. I sat in the chair with my head between my knees the entire... hour, it seemed, in an overcrowed, timy room. People kept asking me and my mother what was wrong. I couldn't lift my head up- being too weak from having to fast the eve before and the gripping fear of needles and blood leaving my body, the smell of rubbing alchohol, the cold February wind whistling through the door, atleast I have a reason to be shaking, the sun making the pavement shimmer blindlingly and creating that light that I can't describe but depresses the hell out of me! the people coughing, the phone ringing and the WAITING. Everyone in the room, seemed concerned about me. My mom sat next to me, talking listening to an older woman talk about her senile mother, who fell backwards into her giant planter. The image of it made me laugh a little. When it was finally my turn, one man said to me, "we want to see you walk out of there!" While laying on the table, that they had to clear off, b/c most people can remain upright during this primitive process, the song playing from the speaker above me was Tom Petty's Waiting is the Hardest Part. Tell me about it! After it was done, I layed there for a while and my mom eventually helped me up and we walked out to the waiting room- everyone applauded me!
 My dr gave me a pill that I could pop in my mouth whenever I felt the attack coming. I used them for a few months along with some therapy she recommended. Sitting, waiting, to talk to the therapist- anything in my hands became twisted, brittle and damp from my sweaty palms. My legs wobbled like a dog's going to the vet or a fawn learning to walk.

Therapy didn't help much. The woman was exteremly wise and kind and patient, yet she couldn't save me from my own head. After some time under this care and some complications with the insurance company (I actually had insurance at that time!) I decided to quit. I read more in detail about brain chemistry. I decided that my head just wasn't working normally and therapy alone was not going to help me. I went back to my doctor, and told her I wanted to try the daily pill we had discussed the first visit. It was Paxil. I began that in 2006 and within the first week I felt happy and the tormenting thoughts were still there in the distance, but I could rationalize and ignore them with extreme ease. I thought more logically and clearer. The only thing that I hated about it was that it quelled my creativity and made me very tired. To this day, at age 25, I still am medicated with Paxil- a fairly low dosage at 20mg. Even though I am a success on the meds, I still suffer from another disorder, or family tradition, alchoholsim.

image from http://www.fishmuffins.blogspot.com

Gimme What I Want and Noone Gets Hurt

Barack Obama is the first president that inspires me. He is the most in touch with America. He is concerned about and fighting for improvement in education, healthcare and the unbalanced state of our country. When asked why he didn't fight more for his plans during the recent tax cuts bill, President Obama ended up using an analolgy, when clear, simple logic didn't seem to be working, "do not negociate with hostage takers, unless the hostages will get harmed." We, the American people, are the hostages. President Obama's # 1 priority is THE PEOPLE. The Republicans priority is obviously not us. Republicans consider tax cuts for their wealthy friends their "political doctrine", their "Holy Grail". Boener has said that his agenda now is to get President Obama and his Democrats out of Congress. I haven't heard anything from Republicans stating that they are willing to do whatever necessary to help recover our country. They are not willing to put aside their pride and greedy agenda to improve the impoverished, unbalanced, weak state of America.
$700 billion dollars is what it will cost to continue the wealthy tax cuts. To defend tax cuts for the wealthy, Republicans are saying that it will create jobs and therefore recover the economy. Yet, evidence of this is nil. While these tax breaks were active for the past 10 years, unemployment and the state of the economy was the worst it has ever been since The Great Depression. Things did not start to improve until President Obama took charge of the Hill. President Obama seems to be the most reasonable person on the Hill. He is to me the most qualified person to be president I have ever seen. He came from modest means, witnessed the hardships of a single family home, a sick mother and worked his way up to Harvard law professor and now president. He knows what the American people need and what to do to catch our nation up to the rest of the world. He is fighting for children who are growing  up like he did, so that they can have things a bit easier than he had; he wants them to have top notch education healthcare, and nutrition. He understands what it's like to be poor with ambition and have ALL the odds against you. He said last night that he did not want to make the American people "collateral"damage" caused by the current stalemate. I am considered very liberal, who are now all fired up over Obama trying to bargain with the people who are trying to sabotage his career and efforts to strengthen America, yet I feel Obama is forced to be a peacemaker between his fiery liberals and the stiff, immature Republicans who want to fillibuster and block all ideas. who considere tax cut for their wealthy friends their "political doctrine", their "Holy Grail". Our President doesn't want to get caught up in the fight of representatives on both sides "busy scoring political points."  Here is what he fought for and achieved, even up against a new majority of Republicans and a loss of popularity and siupport by the people: college tax cuts, middle class tax cuts- he said, 2 million Americans lost jobs, needing unemployment, many are single parent raising child, and or payinmg for college, they will get tax breaks, because of him, he cut payroll taxes, which adds about $1000 per year to the typical American family. small buisnesses will see tax breaks because of Obama. To consider what can we get done now is vital because the economy is not in its strongest. We need to pick our battles and chose the most tactful time to strike against the Republicans.

We Are What They Eat

President Obama presented a bill, H.R. 4870, that would make nutritional meals in schools a priority. It would rid them of the junk, unhealthy foods and replace it with healthy foods that would help children feel their best and be able to focus. With less sugar in their systems the children can settle down and not bounce all over and scream and holler. Many children go to school hungry and cannot focus in class. Hunger makes one tired, irritable, sick, weary and causes headaches. I know myself, when I am hungry or eat junky food, I feel lazy and sleepy; my work suffers and my mind feels foggy. When I have a glass of O.J. and some cereal and fruit, I feel eager to start my day and my productivity is good.

There is a domino effect- poor food, and or lack of food, makes for unattentive, students. Unattentive students get bad grades. Students who get bad grades can't get into college. Students who can't get into college can't get good jobs and they continue to live in poverty and become victims of gangs and drugs. This contributes to an unstable, dangerous society for all of us. The Republicans think this bill is unecessary, but, as I mention in my last article, they are planning to vote "nay" on anything the Democrats propose. It seems we should give this idea a chance- teach children to take care of their minds and bodies and fuel them with good, nutritious foods so they can have a chance to make better decions. Maybe gym classes should offer activities like Yoga to help calm the more overactive students. Instead of competive sports, offer self-improving activites that teach children to believe in their strengths and not be embarrassed and kill their confidence when they fail to hit the ball, or make the hoop. All these are essential to contribute to a happy, confindent youth who will then be less likely to end up on a wayward path of self-destruction. 

Key Provisions

• Pilot Program: The Healthy School Meals Act directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct a pilot program in which the secretary provides selected school districts with plant-based protein products (center of the plate entrée items like vegetable burgers) and nondairy milk substitutes to evaluate free of charge. The USDA will conduct an evaluation of the pilot program and will be allocated $4 million for program implementation.
• More Plant-Based Commodities: Following the pilot program, the USDA will purchase plant-based alternate protein products and nondairy milk substitutes to make available to schools through the commodities purchase program and provide training materials regarding nutritional benefits and preparation of these products.
• Incentives for Schools to Offer Healthy Plant-Based Meals: School districts where at least two-thirds of the students are offered plant-based entrées on each daily lunch menu will receive supplemental commodity assistance of 25 percent of their total commodity assistance, which can be used to purchase additional plant-based foods (including fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains) through the USDA commodities program.
• Increased Availability of Cow’s Milk Alternatives: An increasing number of children cannot drink milk due to lactose intolerance, allergy, or preference, and are therefore falling short nutritionally. Therefore, schools participating in the School Lunch Program shall offer a fluid milk substitute that meets USDA nutritional standards for calcium, vitamin D, and other nutrients. Students will no longer need to provide a written note to choose a milk alternative, and schools will be reimbursed for meals that include a healthful milk alternative.

“To my mind, work will help people live fairly. That is why in my picture I depict people working in the garden. They have worked hard and their harvest is rich.”

Mariam Marukyan,13

Do They Know it's Christmastime?

The Republicans have once again proven their agenda to be selfish, immature and chauvinistic. McConnell recently delivered a note to Harry Reid stating that he, Boehner and all the other Republicans, will vote against any bills proposed by the Democrats; their objective is to get rid of Obama and stop any progress that he is making to help our country, which proves they have no beneficial ideas to save our country. I pray to God the American people realise this and keep them as far away from the White House as possible!

Working Class Hero

I hate that I am a slave to the retail industry. I have no real marketable skill that people want to pay me for. I hate that grocery stores do not specialize in food; they try to be their own shopping center in one store, one person per department to do it all as well as cater to customers. This may be conveinent for the consumer and CEO of the buisness,  but not for the worker.In reality, though, customers are often disgruntled after talking to the clerk, who can be overworked, underpaid and rushing off to complete their next task, and not very knowledgeble because they are responsible for mulitple duties and rushed along up the hill pushing the profits up and into the fat mouths of the CEOs.
This also causes the closing of quality, professional small buisnesses shops where the workers are able to dedicate custom attention to their work. I work-in a floral shop within a chain grocery store. I used to be a cashier, which I still do whenever it gets too crowded, or they want to cut the front end's hours and hire more  17 or 18 year old part-timers...I have medeocre skills in flower arrangining, and have multiple jobs to get done within 5 or 6 hours, so there is no time to learn the expert skills that one could find at a shop where the worker was a full-time apprentice to an expert botanist who knew all his or her customers and the proper way to care for plants and flowers. This type of buisness is world-wide. Capitalism, what began as the right to have your own buisness, and make a profit, has turned into monstrous greed that buys elections and fuels the ugly idea that if your not at the top of the hill, you should be eliminated because you are unambitious, which is why you are poor to begin with and are a drain on society killing the buzz of the those up in the clouds of smoke from their sweet cigars reaped and rolled by Central American slaves making about $2.00 per day.

A Little Tea

My cousin has an unconventional, dark sense of humor, which I like. He can keep such a straight face that it sometimes takes me a while to catch on that he's joking. Once while having tea at my aunt's house, he says that being tall is being superior. Being only 5'2", I demanded to know why! He gave me the example that say my aunt asked me to get that tea pot on the top shelf, I couldn't reach it, but he easily could. Ofcourse, this was all a light hearted conversation, yet I did wonder if he secretly thought this to be true.
A few days later, I was picking mulberries from a tree in my yard; I couldn't reach the really yummy ones near the top, so I couln't help thinking back to my cousins's statement. However, I came up with a new theory. If as a species is developing all is easy for it, it will never evolve further. Yet, if one is too small to, say reach the higher fruit, their minds will have to, out of necessity, develop new ways to get the fruit. They would innovate ways using their BRAINS, thereby creating new ideas, creativity and progress. So, then, who is the superior?

Girl Power!!!!!?

I read an article last year where the question was if a woman can use her sexuality to get ahead in her career, why not take advantage of it? Well.... it's just not fair; she should advance because of her qualifications, other than her... endowments. If women kneel to this idea, men will to expect other women to play this game, show them or give them some kind of sexual satifaction in order to move up. Women have worked too hard to be taken seriously, to not be seen as sex objects here to please men. By selling out ourselves we devolve the movement of women. Our bodies are sacred and powerful. Yes, we are sexual creatures, and we should be able to run naked if we want to... Yet, when it comes to the work place, we must play fair. 

Thank you Obama for working to finally get this Act passed in 2010!

John Lennon - Working Class Hero

It's not all Roses

A Day in the Life of a florist at your typical, 21st Century, capitalist supermarket.
How many people do you think are responisible for all the following?
unload stock from pallets, usually 4-12 boxes, manuver a full u-frame through crowded walkways of cattle-like customers,unload, process flowers, plants, recut and care for older product before putting out newer product, wait on a customer, finish unloading pallet, get called up to a register to help alleviate the crowds accumulating, fill 32 gallon water tank, push it outside,water plants outside, get called back in to help a customer in your department, go back outside to water, push tank back in to be refilled, take the trash,condense cardboard and take it to crusher,wait on a customer, go upfront again to run a register, while water tank overflows, go back out to water, refill tank, help customers, clean department, help bag groceries up front, water plants outside... I think you get the idea- How many? ONE, just ONE! And they give me 5 or 6 hours per day to do all this! They cut back the cashiers upfront, and pull people from other departments to do their job, causing their primary job to be comprimised and often, incomplete. If workers had a specialty they could work on all day, they would be more able to dedicate their efforts and talents, and therefore, have a better end result; if one person has many things to do, nothing is done to its potential. Capitalists seem to want slavery back. Now, I am in no way trying to compare myself to a slave, I have never known what that is like, but worker's rights are not the priority to many capitalistic buisness classes- and I would not put it past them that if they could reinstate slavery for their buissnesses, they would. Their profits would go through the roof! No pesky healthcare costs, or fair wages, or paid holidays... they wouldn't even have to provide a place for us to take a break, for there would be no breaks!
What is most frieghtening to me is a recent incident in my town. Back in 1946, a place called Eatmor opened, helping this working-class community"eat more, for less." The meat cutters managed to get a union organized and the place survived many economic slumps for 60 years, under one family ownership. I worked there for 4 years. There were many things I hated about my job, such as the degredation from the customers, but I grew a thicker skin and survived and earned my unions wages and full healthcare coverage. Every cashier had their own bagger, usually a local, high-school male, which made things easier for the customer and the cashier; plus, the bagger could catch anything I may have missed on the bottom of the cart, which managment appreciated. They were there to help little old ladies out to their car and earn tips; many baggers could earn upwards of $60 on a good night, plus minimum wage, pretty good for a 16 or 17 year old. In 2007, the place was sold to a family from India, who had a pattern of buying and mismanaging stores, who managed to run the Eatmor buisness, a landmark of 60 years, down to the ground within one year by not paying bills, leaving an arrogant, inexperience 20 something to mind the store and being motivated only by money and ignoring the wants and needs of customers and workers. Towards the end, they laid off many workers, and eventually shut it down, causing all its workers, many who had more than 30 years there, to go on unemployment, to get rid of the union, and reopen under the SAME NAME, only adding an "E" at the end and to be ANTI-UNION; a real slap in our faces...


In modern supermarkets, where I ended up getting my new job after Eatmor, they practise tacts such as this... I used to be able to get 8 hour days a couple times a week. When new store managment came, they cut that out- the max hours we can now get is 7.15, which cut out one of our 15 mins and our 1/2 hr lunch break; this was done to "streamline" the front end, where there are no baggers ready to help customers out to their car; that's unheard of! The cashier, who is busy bagging, while the customer stands and stares hawk-eye at the screen waiting to catch her 10 cents not comming off, has to make sure there is nothing left under or in the cart. I guess too many cashiers were too overworked to see the many items going out the door unpaid for. I don;t blame them- it's one customer right after the next, literally, as you're saying have a nice day and hading the change back to them, another on the other side is shoving thier coupons and savings card at you. There are literally one right after the other since there are usually only a few lines open, so the owners can make more profit and not have to pay their workers too much! So, to fix this, my store has now put in place a scanner that looks for missed items on the bottom of the cart; a good, old-fashined bagger could have solved this, I thought!
 This enviroment makes for irritable workers and customers. If the workers are taken care of first- with fair wages, full healthcare coverage, and full-time hours, not  less hours and more responsiblity for the same pay- they will be happier and more efficient in the workplace which will lead to happier, more loyal customers.
If a buissness cannot provide fair conditions to its workers, should they even be running a buisness?

Where's the Fire?

Is all hope for CHANGE lost?! For many years I have realized that to Washington, the working class doesn't count; the closest some of the Democrats have come to knowing my kind of people is the middle class. Once Obama entered the campaign for president in 2008 it was the first time I ever felt inspired because he seemed to recognize the working class, and was set on making things better for us drowning down here. He sends my Dad $60 bucks a month, and pays for him to go back to school since his job was lost because of outsourcing. I am still hopeful in Obama; the people cannot loose the fire inside we had in 2004!!
The House has a 242 majority of Republican's, 193 Democrats. Thankfully we got some healthcare reform before yesterday- the new healthcare law states that insurannce companies cannot drop people when they get sick, as they could before and the Republicans want to repeal this; they obviously have never been where the people have been, fearing, obsessing over how they are going to pay to get well and feed their family. Before Obama came to Washinton, too many American jobs were lost to outsourcing,  we plummeted into an economic depression, unemployment reached Depression-era percenatges. Obama came in just in time to save us from the second Great Depression. Thankfully, the Democrats still have the Senate and White House.
I loved watching The Ed Show tonight on MSNBC; Ed Shultz was so angry at the lack of fire in Obama today after the defeat in the House. Obama said he is willing to comprimise with the Republicans; the Republicans, especially the new speaker, John Boehner, who are tenacious on defeating him, perhaps even trying to impeach him! It truly seems that is ALL they set upon doing while Obama, and any Democrats for that matter, are in Congress; they do not seem interested in any noble acts like improving the dire state of our country. The Republicans, who are oppossed to cutting taxes for the middle and below classes, and yet they go on and on about how they will lower taxes and Democrats want to raise them, for such essential things such as EDUCATION, the base of society. The Republicans, who have set record numbers of fillibusters to stop all of Obama's changes. Ed was baffled at why Obama is willing to comprimise with these 'crazies.' All they want to do is concentrate the power again.
I have a couple of ideas to why Obama seemed so burned out... He could be using a Civil Rights movement tact- non-violent resistence, not reacting violently to violence to reveal how wrong the offender is. He may also think that if Republicans now have the majority of the House and neither side bends for comprimise, nothing will get done for the people. I agree with Al Sharpton, who appeared on The Ed Show tonight, saying it is up to the people to fight for what needs to be done in Congress, to show that our support in Obama is not lost.

The not- so- Goodwife

To seek knowledge is as natural as the fruit that grows in the ever-blossomed orchards of Heaven. Fruit is nourishment for the body as knowedge is nourishment for the mind. I don't believe God would punish those with minds who want to learn and share knowledge. Eve wanted to know about God and about the world around her. We all know how that worked out...
 It is true that "well behaved women rarely make history."
If we fast foward to 1632, early in mass exodus of Christians from England to the New World to keep their beliefs in God "pure,"Anne Hutchinson, well educated in theology, claimed a very unorthodox belief. She believed that "a person's ulitimate destiny was between the individual and God and not to be interpreted by clergymen" (Oh Say Did You Know p. 19). Her and that Saudi-Arabian gentlemen from my last post should get together! She was put under house arrest and finally banished from her colony in Massachusettes. If there is real TRUTH behind what the religious leaders believe then why do they react so harshly to anyone who dissents?
The way God is portrayed in the parable of Adam and Eve is very human-like. God's Word cannot be written down because there is no language we could conceive of to scribe it. Just the idea of God is like looking into pupil of God's Eye and seeing the Cosmic Garden, where stands the Great Tree of Knowledge, and clinging to those branches are tiny, trembling droplets of sacred balance wherewithin are universes.
I feel, in 2010, as Anne Hutchinson did in 1632. We do not need mankind to interpret God to us. God will come to us in our own time and in a personal way that we will be able to receive and understand. It is offputting to have someone preach to me the way they see the Word of God. For all we know, this is really out there, the Bible was put out by the Devil to trick us; it could be part of the everlasting battle of Good and Evil; it was copied down by scribes, who probably made mistakes and the many times the Word has been translated, how could any of the original words be exact? Some foreign words have no equivilent in other languages. 2,000 years ago, 'virgin' meant an unmarried woman; to-day it means a woman who has never had sex. Just that one difference alone should make one wonder about all of history in general. As Bono so well put it, "religion often gets in the way of God." Most wars throughout history have been over religion, atleast in the Middle East. It is not God causing the wars, but man's interpretations of God, which is religion, the sustainence of billions of people all over the world. As long as man is interpreting God, there will be wars, and people who seek the peaceful truth of God will be rebels and excommunicated.

WKUK - Season 4 - Senator Clint Webb (what i really think of politicians!)

Give Change a Chance!

I try to listen to independent views and avoid judgement. I am very liberal and I want my politicians to be so as well! To govern the masses one needs to be open-minded and liberal to be able to listen to and understand the diversity that is our Nation, to be able to represent them as closely as possible. I don't understand how we have managed to still remain a 2-party system country. How can the United States be divided into only 2 parties? I am very anti-Republican; yet I admit, they do have what Liberals seem to lack- solid party loyalty and organization. There are more poor people at the bottom of the pyramid, the foundation of society, why are so many of them voting Republican? Republicans who wipe their asses with our hard earned money, want to privatize healthcare, cut out Social Security and other social benefits for the masses. They don't wan to allow a woman to choose what to do with her body and baby, but when she has that baby they don't want to help her support him, educate him, or take care of him when it gets sick, or fund research that can cure deadly diseases. They use the Bible to grip the fundmanetal Christians, quote the Bible to support their policies, but they will be the first to strap an accused crimminal to the gurney and let him be injected with the deadly serum. On NPR I heard a Saudi-Arabian man, a man from a country where religion runs every aspect of lfe, say that there should be a seperation b/t Church and State. He believes that religion is sacred and should be a quiet, personal relashionship b/t God and the individual. There is still hope for Peace in the Middle East!
People are criticizing Obama for increasing the deficit, and ruining the economy. Where were these people 10 years ago when their people were in power and banks were de-regulated and could profit off of people's loans by selling them to other banks? when mass amounts of companies were shut down and reopened in foreign countries, like China? China, who we owe trillions to because of money borrowed for these 2 wars? China who makes our discount, Wal-Mart apparel, applicances and furniture, while buying oil from Sudan, a terrorist  training ground, now responsible for the greatest mass murder of the 21st century. If Bush-Cheney-like policies had continued, we would now be in the second Great Depression, the rich woul dbe richer, the poor working harder and harder to only become poorer and poorer and to eventually have their jobs outsourced to China, Honduras or maybe Mexico. The Republicans are acting like bratty little children, not wanting to help the country b/c their party is no longer the majority. They reject bills that are presented by Democrats that are designed to restabilize our country; which goes to show that they really don't care about our country; the past reign of Conservative Republicans proves that. When the Republicans were in office my 50 years old father lost his job of 30 years b/c of outsourcing. He gets $50 per month, and education paid for since Obama has been in office. When Republicans were in office I lost my health insurance, employees were laid off and hours were cut back. Now, the Obama administration is working on ensuring healthcare for all. It is going to be a long process to "fix" Washington. So far, Obama is the closest I have seen for a good president. My ideal one would be one more in touch with the working class, very worldly, liberal and one who is serious about Green energy and reviving the health of our planet. But, Washington was too messy and unstable to have an independent party to take over. We need to restabilize; we need American jobs, stronger unions, fair wages, better education, healthcare for all AND WE NEED TO END THESE WARS! Only then, can we be ready for a more independent party. Maybe that's what 2012 will bring; to the tea party and Republicans, that will be the end of the world for sure!!

The Mosque of Red Death

To-morrow, the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 Terrorist attacks, has many Americans fired up about a group of Muslims in New York who want to build a community center a few blocks away from Ground Zero. Some Americans are upset about this, because the terrorists who attacked 9 years ago were followers of Islam. However, they got it wrong. The terrorists brought shame to their religion; they desecrated it to act out on their hatred for Americans, tried to make themselves heroic and martyrs, which will attract many of the impoverished people of the Third World and build an army to fight the Americans. The Muslims who want to build a community center ARE NOT terrorists. Imam Rauf, who wants to build the center was one of the first responders to 9/11 to help police. He plans to have prayer rooms for all faiths. What's the trouble? This is the 21st century, shouldn't we be trying to evolve from the Dark Ages? I think the Muslims should build a center there to prove that Islam DOES NOT = terrorist, and maybe Americans can mature a little and work towards understanding other cultures other than the obese, greedy Capitalistic culture. Then we have this pyschotic ass in Texas, I think when we named that state we forgot the second "s" on the end, Pastor Jones, with about 30 followers, who has read maybe a page of the Islamic holy book, wants to burn piles of the Koran. When asked by a reporter from MSNBC what in the Koran makes him want to burn it, all he said was that he may have only read a page or two of it, and it doesn't mention Jesus as the Savior. Fundamental Christians are making the U.S. look bad and fueling hatred for us, giving the wrong idea about what true Christianity is just like the terroroist are giving the wrong idea about Islam. If people start burning the Koran and the terrorists see that, it will be another crippling, stumbling step backwards in the War on Terror. We cannot fight for peace. We must negociate, listen, learn and LOVE and FORGIVE as the Christian holy book instructs to gain PEACE. 

The Republicans want to sign the renewal of rich tax cuts, for their friends who make more then $250,000 a year (do you know anyone who makes that much? I don't. I know lots of people without jobs!) with their blood!! God help us all!!!

<a href="http://failblog.org/2010/11/19/epic-fail-photos-probably-bad-news-mosque-protest-fail/%22%3E%3Cimg src='http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/06a81738-afef-4d2a-85b3-dab6636df4db.jpg' title="Probably Bad News: Mosque Protest FAIL" alt="epic fail photos - Probably Bad News: Mosque Protest FAIL" height="274px" width="500px" /></a><br />see more <a href="http://failblog.org%22%3efunny/ videos</a>

Leaf Nature Be

I work at a floral shop. Many times I feel my creativity is quelled because it will not produce monetary profits. I am uninterested in that; I create to unlimit the mind. I just want to create and have my creations inspire new ideas for observers of them. Flowers should be left natural, outside in the ground I mean. I always am tempted to pick one and bring it inside, but they look so unnatural once you bring them in, out of their element. I often think of the multiple layers of Life, how we have the power to kill or create something, and something above us has the power to do the same to us, which is why to those who say, it's just a bug, just think to some other being we are, just a human, and we all know how important we think we are! But, if flowers are to be harvested, let them teach you; let them show you how they want to be presented. I hate symmetry! Maybe it is because I haven't perfected that skill, or because it's somewhat unnatural, I don't know which came first! My arrangements can have a bigger purpose. If they are able to have a natural relaxed flow, the energy about it will extend to the creator and the observer of the arrangement.
Everywhere I go I love to watch, listen and learn, and try to inspire a lust for knowledge and possession of an open mind... Or, maybe, I'm just bullshitting my way out of sucking at flower arranging!

a poet can survive anything but a misprint

We see, hear, taste and feel life so differently sometimes that it's hard to breathe when you cannot convey it in your art, or make others understand.
I recently began taking lessons through the mail with Long Ridge Writer's Group. Every assignment I get back I am told I have "poetic, lyrical" writing and I am that I am very creative. But, within the margins of my writings I am also explained the rules of grammar and writing. I understand the rules, but when it comes to creative writing, I feel nothing should be edited and the traditional rules should not be followed. I hate restrictions being put upon me in order for my writing to be acceptible. I don't believe in traditional punctuation, fragments, run-ons or any other boundaries that restrict creative flow! Creative writing is meant to bring forth innovation and CREATION! If we apply ancient rules to it, it will never have a chance to flourish into the next evolution. Besides, connotation changes with the times, the culture. Gay today doesn't mean happy; a faggot is not a bundle of sticks- it is someone gay! It is all relative to time, place and society. I want my writing to be felt from the pages within the person; I want them so intent on the imagery that they don't care about the grammar. I want the flow of words to match the action I am explaining, move symphonically, undulate like the restless oceans! But even they are inhaled ashore to meet their demise.
I wandered around the local arts district under gentle rain. I love the rain. It stirs so much creativity within me. It renders a haunting aura about the trees, the pavement and buildings-the sky ghostly illuminated. Being 25 with so many thoughts about the world only venturing as far as my journals, some books are hidden and others lay strewn about my schizophrenically organized room, I guess I was feeling sorry for myself that day. I live inside my head, and like most of us, create my own reality. I went to the Oar House, one of my favorite pubs, except when it's crowded. I ordered my Jameson and took it over to my usual window by the front door. Even the acrid burn of whiskey could not melt the lump in my throat. The thoughts in my head- frantic like trapped birds. I write on my napkin and stash it away in my purse. I see that the pen has pressed the words through onto the table. I smiled at it; I had left my mark for some other lonely soul to come and look at and wonder, who has such beautiful ideas? I must find them! By the end of my drink, my eyes were brimming with tears.  When I got home, I tried to write, but no new thoughts would flow out. Frustrated, I collapse to my bed, where my cat lay grooming, like a defeated ballerina.

A Backyard Photoshoot

My best friend and I love to do photoshoots. She is brilliant at capturing images; most of the time we're together we end up doing some sort of photoshoot. This day she called me and said she had a surprise. I was trying to find an outfit for our shoot that day. When she got there, I ran out to greet her, and she was pulling out these unwieldy, giant raven wings. She was amazed that my outfit had matched perfectly, with no prior knowledge of the wings!  She had found them at a yardsale, and plans to wear them as part of her Halloween costume this year. I would love to reshoot with these wings again on an autumn eve, when trees are bare.